1997 Rice
7–4 (5–3 Western Athletic Conference), coached by Ken Hatfield. Share
Schedule and results
- Biggest upsetBeat No. 21 BYU 27–14Oct 11
BYU was ranked No. 21, above it.
| Date | Opponent | Result | Elo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 6 | vs Air Force | L 12–41 | 57% |
| Sep 13 | at Tulane | W 30–24 | 54% |
| Sep 20 | at Northwestern | W 40–34 | 32% |
| Sep 27 | vs Texas | L 31–38 | 54% |
| Oct 4 | at Tulsa | W 42–24 | 64% |
| Oct 11 | vs 21BYU | W 27–14 | 42% |
| Oct 18 | at New Mexico | W 35–23 | 43% |
| Nov 1 | at SMU | L 6–24 | 64% |
| Nov 8 | vs TCU | W 38–19 | 86% |
| Nov 15 | at Utah | L 14–31 | 56% |
| Nov 22 | vs UTEP | W 31–13 | 79% |
Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.
How it ended: Beat UTEP 31–13; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 4th in the Western Athletic Conference.
In program history: The 25th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 115 on file).
- Record
- 7–4
- Conference
- 5–3 tied for 4th in Western Athletic Conference
- AP final
- Unranked
- Points
- 306–285
- Coach
- Ken Hatfield
- Elo
- 1549 +10 this season
- SP+ rating
- 0.8 No. 62 of 112; offense No. 48, defense No. 71
- SRS
- −2.3 No. 67 of 112 in Division I-A
- Recruiting class
- —
- Offensive coordinator
- David Lee
- Defensive coordinator
- Hardee McCrary
1997 Western Athletic Conference standings
| Team | Conf. | Overall | AP final |
|---|---|---|---|
 Colorado State | 7–1 | 11–2 | 17 |
| Air Force | 6–2 | 10–3 | |
| New Mexico | 6–2 | 9–4 | |
 Rice | 5–3 | 7–4 | |
| Utah | 5–3 | 6–5 | |
| SMU | 5–3 | 6–5 | |
 Fresno State | 5–3 | 6–6 | |
| BYU | 4–4 | 6–5 | |
 Wyoming | 4–4 | 7–6 | |
 San Diego State | 4–4 | 5–7 | |
 San José State | 4–4 | 4–7 | |
| UTEP | 3–5 | 4–7 | |
 UNLV | 2–6 | 3–8 | |
| Tulsa | 2–6 | 2–9 | |
 Hawai’i | 1–7 | 3–9 | |
| TCU | 1–7 | 1–10 |
Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.